Documents / Official release
This is a Secret History Staff monograph by Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach of the Central Intelligence Agency, published in 1992. It gives a history of the CIA's manned overhead reconnaissance program from 1954 to 1974, covering the development and operation of the U-2 and the A-12 OXCART aircraft. It covers overflights of the Soviet Union, the 1960 downing of Francis Gary Powers, and later operations. One section is titled "U-2s, UFOs, and Operation BLUE BOOK."
From the source:Release of 2026-06-12 This CIA History Staff document chronicles the complete history of the U-2 and OXCART (A-12) high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft programs from 1954 to 1974, detailing their development, operations over the Soviet Union and other targets worldwide, the famous downing of Francis Gary Powers in 1960, organizational reforms following that incident, and the eventual transfer of operations from CIA to Air Force control. A more redacted version of this document has been available on CIA's public website.
“Cooper”12 pages
168 Sec, et N6f6IU4 Chapter 4 In authorizing another overflight of the Soviet Union, President Eisenhower directed that it be conducted before 30 March. Because of complications in getting permission from Pakistan to use the airfield at Peshawar, however, the mission could not be staged in March, and the President agreed to extend his dleadline until l 0 April 1960. One day before the expiration of this cle.adline, a U-2 equipped with a B-camera took off from Peshawar on the last successful overflight of the Soviet Union, Operation SQUARE DEAL. As had been the case during the previous two overflights, a second U-2 flew a diversionary mission along the Soviet-Iranian border. After leaving Peshawar, mis sion 4155 headed first for Saryshagan, where it obtained the first pic tures of two new Soviet radars, the HEN HOUSE and HEN ROOST installations. The U-2 then flew to the nuclear testing site at Semipalatinsk. Returning to the Saryshagan area, it crisscrossed the railroad network there and then proceeded to Tyuratam. where it pho tographed a new two-pad, road-served launch area that suggested a new Soviet missile was in the offing.18 In his memoirs Nikita Khrushchev remarked that this U-2 should have been shot down. "but our antiaircraft batteries were caught nap ping and didn ' t open fire soon enough." Khrushchev explained that Soviet missile designers had developed a high-altitude antiaircraft missile and batteries of this missile had been deployed near known targets of the U-2.19 The CIA already had strong indications of improvements in the Soviet air defense system, and early in 1960 the Development Projects Division had asked Air force experts at the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) for a frank assessment of Soviet capabili ties against the U-2. On 14 March ll960, Col. William Burke, acting chief of the DPD, relayed the ATIC assessment to Richard Bissell: The sreatest threat to the U-2 is the Soviet SAM. Although the AT!C analysis concedes a remote possibility thac the SAM may be less effective than estimatea~ their present evaluation is that the SAM (Guideline) has a high probability of successful inter cept at 70,000 feet providing th.at detection is made in sufficient time lO alert the site. 10 ,. Mission folder 4155. 9 April 1960. OSA records. job 67-8 -328. box 6 (TS Codeword). •• Nikita S. Khrushchev. Khrushchev Remembers: The Last Testament (Boston: Little. Brown. & Co.. 1974). pp. 443-444. "' Memorandum for Richard M. Bissell. Deputy· Director (Plans). from Col. William Burke. Acting Chief, DPD ...Evaluation of Proposed CHALICE Operations:· 14 March 1960, IC Staff, COMIREX records.job 33-T-123A. box I0 . ..CHALICE (General).. (TS Codeword).
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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 406 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.